Recruiting Rumor Mill: Big visits as coaching carousel spins
The Recruiting Rumor Mill is back after another round of weekend visits and early signing period news coming in hot and heavy.
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FACT OR FICTION: Alabama will hold off Florida, Georgia for Isaiah Bond
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The three-star Oklahoma commitment visited Texas Tech this past weekend and liked it a lot and especially had a lot of fun with the other recruits on campus, at least one of them being committed to the Sooners as well. But the Arlington (Texas) Seguin standout wants to see the entire coaching staff in place in Norman and see how they feel about him and where he fits before making any further moves.
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Georgia is making a run at the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas receiver and he’s now planning to take a trip to Athens next weekend instead of South Carolina. Brown was at Auburn this past weekend as the Tigers are staying among his new favorites as well with Arizona and Pitt, where he had been committed. But Georgia is new on his list and something to definitely watch over the next week.
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Florida State has to like its position very much after sending multiple coaches to see Coleman in his state championship game over the weekend plus the Seminoles could have been trending in his recruitment since the summer. Oregon is the other serious contender right now but with the coaching uncertainty there, that could be negatively impacting the Ducks. FSU has to like its position a lot right now.
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The four-star offensive lineman from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco visited Alabama late last week and then was in attendance for the SEC Championship Game as two of his favorites - the Crimson Tide and Georgia - squared off. The feeling right now is that Alabama is trending for Greene’s commitment and Saturday’s performance could not have hurt that. Georgia has recruited him longer and been more consistent so Greene is weighing that in his decision, too.
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It will be interesting to see if Jones reschedules a trip to Oklahoma now with Brent Venables coming in but as of the last few days the Sooners looked out of his recruitment. It was a three-horse race with Alabama, Florida State and Georgia as the leaders and a trip to Athens is expected for this weekend. But watch out for USC, too. We’ll see how much it picks up but with Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch there now, the Trojans have piqued his interest again.
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The four-star Oklahoma tight end commit from Aledo, Texas, visited Texas Tech this weekend, had an awesome trip and a lot of fun as the Red Raiders look to flip him leading up to signing day. What stood out most at Texas Tech was the family feel and how well-received coach Joey McGuire has been by everyone on the team and staff. Llewelyn remains committed to Oklahoma and is closely watching the coaching hires especially on the offensive side of the ball to figure out if it’s still a fit. The four-star could visit TCU this week and Baylor this weekend.
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The defensive tackle from Independence (Kan.) Independence C.C. has taken visits all over the country so it’s tough to read exactly what he’s thinking but M’Ba said he has a feeling about where he wants to go. And that’s coming off a trip to Tennessee where he said it feels like family in Knoxville and that they’re bringing back the Vol for Life mentality. Auburn, Missouri and others are right in the mix, too.
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Arkansas has to like its chances very much with the high three-star receiver from Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb and the Razorbacks could be considered the team to beat following his weekend visit. “The true meaning and grind it takes to compete in the SEC West (stood out),” Mbake said.
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The four-star cornerback from Lexington (Miss.) Holmes County took a visit to Mississippi State this weekend and things went well but is in a little holding pattern at the moment as the Miami coaching search gets sorted out. The word is Rogers is seeing if Manny Diaz will stay and then will make any further decisions from there. The Bulldogs and Ole Miss are working on flipping him.
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The Mississippi State visit went really well and the “brotherhood from the players” stood out most to the Killeen (Texas) Shoemaker cornerback. But Terrell is not ready to make a decision yet and wants to see Baylor this weekend before figuring out which program is best.
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The word on the four-star running back and former West Virginia commit is as long as Cadillac Williams is on Auburn’s staff, the Dallas (Ga.) East Paulding standout will have a lot of interest in the Tigers. His visit to Auburn went well this weekend, he loves the staff and facilities and the offense is similar to what he runs in high school. Those are all good things in Auburn’s favor but Tennessee is also very high on Williams’ list and he plans to be in Knoxville next weekend before the early signing period.
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Mississippi State hosted the four-star defensive end this weekend and the word coming out of the trip is that the Bulldogs feel like they have a very healthy shot at landing him as things get closer to signing day. The Crystal Springs, Miss., standout who was outstanding at the Dallas Rivals Camp last spring is also high on Ole Miss after backing off a pledge to Florida State earlier this fall as the rumor was he wanted to be closer to home.